PhD grant opportunity in the Fusion group at BSC

Among the 20 predoctoral INPhINIT -“La Caixa” fellowships currently open for applications at Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC, Spain), our Fusion group offers a 3-year predoctoral research position in the field of Modelling of Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequency Wave Heating for Fusion Plasmas. The position is under supervision of our Group Manager ICREA Research Professor Dr Mervi Mantsinen who has almost 20 years of international experience in the field of ICRF heating and fusion energy development.

The PhD project will focus on heating of plasmas with electromagnetic waves in the range of Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequencies (ICRF). This heating method is one of the three main external heating methods that will be used in ITER. We will analyse and model experiments on present-day devices to study ICRF heating in preparation of the ITER operation. We will characterize the obtained heating performance as well study applications of ICRF waves beyond pure heating. Among the applications beyond pure heating, the key topics that we will consider are the avoidance of impurity accumulation as well as the enhancement of fusion reactivity and suppression of plasma microturbulence through fast ions born via the resonant wave-particle interaction. If time allows, we will extrapolate our results to ITER.

ITER building site in south of France.

INPhINIT is a doctoral fellowship programme for international Early-Stage Researchers at the top Spanish research centres. INPhINIT is promoted by “la Caixa” Foundation with the aim of supporting the best scientific talent and fostering innovative and high-quality research in Spain by recruiting outstanding international students and offering them an attractive and competitive environment for conducting research of excellence. The programme is co-funded by the European Commission through COFUND, one of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie initiatives of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.

Regarding the eligibility criteria, we note that at the publication date of the final list of selected candidates (29 may 2018), applicants must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree.

Furthermore, at the time of recruitment, candidates must comply with one of the following options:

To have completed the studies that lead to an official Spanish (or from another country of the European Higher Education Area) university degree awarding 300 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 ECTS credits must correspond to master level.

To have completed a degree in a non-Spanish university not adapted to the European Higher Education Area that gives access to doctoral studies. The verification of an equivalent level of studies to the ones mentioned above will be made by the university when the admission procedure starts.

Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the publication date of the final list of selected candidates (29 may 2018). Short stays such as holidays will not be taken into account when calculating the mobility requirement.

Candidates must have a demonstrable level of English (B2 or higher).

For more information and to apply, please consult this link. The deadline for applications is the 1st of February 2018.